Bears Strike Fast on First Day of Free Agency

Just like last year, Chicago Bears' General Manager Phil Emery wasted no time addressing his team's needs in the minutes after the NFL's new league year began today at 3 PM central time, also known as the official start of free agency. The free agent feeding frenzy has continued to escalate as contracts get larger, the salary cap grows, and many teams in a league of parity can rebuild a team in an offseason. In just the short few hours since the new league year began and contracts could officially be signed, the Bears announced they reached terms on a 5 year, $35 million deal with former Oakland Raiders defensive end Lamarr Houston, signed former New York Giants safety Ryan Mundy to a 2 year deal, resigned middle linebacker D.J. Williams to a 1 year deal, signed special teams ace Jordan Senn to a 1 year deal, and officially released Julius Peppers, who joins the recently released Michael Bush on the cap casualty chopping block.

Chicago Spring 2014 Sports Preview

Yes, it's been awhile since I've written anything here. Perhaps it was the freezing Chicago cold, the ridiculous amount of snow we've gotten, or the general unhappiness/laziness that winters here (and the failures of our respective sports team) brings with it. But now, even as Mother Nature dumps yet another 5 or so inches on our favorite city, there is light at the end of the tunnel.

There is certainly something to the "hope springs eternal" expression that not so coincidentally mentions the season that quickly approaches. Spring is the thawing out season, the one where green returns to nature and hope returns to Chicago sports. There is the start of a new baseball season, the end of both professional and college basketball seasons with an eye to the future, the NFL offseason, spring college football sessions, and the tail end of what hopes to be an exciting NHL season. Spring, perhaps more than any season, gives us the feeling of starting fresh. So, with that frame of mind, let's take a look into how our favorite teams will fare beginning this spring and beyond.

Bears' Playoff Hopes Dwindling with Loss to Woeful Vikings

Forget the tiebreakers, the remaining teams on the schedule, the players returning from injury in the coming weeks, and the way the offense has played - this Bears team isn't making the playoffs, and doesn't deserve it either. After today's embarrassing, crippling, and reaching-rock-bottom-status loss to the Minnesota Vikings, not only is the fact that the Bears have even overachieved to this point obvious, but it's clear that the Bears just aren't a good football team.

Bulls Lose Rose to Another Season Ending Knee Injury

11 games. That’s all we got to see before another earth-shattering, devastating, franchise-changing injury to Derrick Rose stopped this season before it even got started. In what initially appeared to be a minor tweak in yet another non-contact play, Derrick Rose’s career – and the hopes of a franchise completely bought in on him – may never be the same. All of the hard work he put in after missing 18 months with a torn ACL in his other knee, all of the angst and criticism he heard from fans and the media – none of that matters now as he has the same long path ahead. The future of Derrick Rose, the near future of the Bulls franchise, and even the future of some of the players on the team are all now huge question marks. It really couldn’t get any worse. 

Time for Beckman to Go

The fact that I'm writing this as halftime comes in Illinois' game against Ohio State tells you everything you need to know about the current status of this program. It's reached new depths of ineptitude. The funny thing is, though, that this isn't the wakeup call for Illinois fans, alumni, and administration that Tim Beckman isn't the right guy to lead this program out of the abyss. Strangely enough, anyone who watched this team last year saw the same thing. The missed tackles, the poor planning, the poor construction of a staff, the blaming on the previous coaching staff, and the inability to do even the slightest things right are obvious to even the most casual of fans.

Trestman Sticks with Ailing Cutler, and Bears Stuck with Loss

Marc Trestman's honeymoon with the Chicago media and Bears fans lasted 8 games. 8 games, up and down the Bears roller coaster this season, where Trestman emerged relatively unscathed and still the darling genius behind the Bears offensive genesis. That is, until yesterday's game against Detroit, where his mind boggling decision making is the direct reason the Bears lost a winnable game that would have given them control of the division and thus their own destiny towards the playoffs. I was fine with the Trestman's gamble on fourth down in the first half, instead of kicking a field goal, but his management of the quarterback situation in the second half and his abysmal play call for the attempted two point conversion at the end of the game were horrible.

Cubs All in on Young Talent with Renteria Hire

It seems that the growing trend in Chicago sports coaching searches these days is to hire the slightly under the radar, outside the box type with no previous head coaching experience. The Bears got theirs in Marc Trestman, who was only a head coach in the CFL and is off to a good start this season. The Bulls got theirs a few years ago with Tom Thibodeau, who has had resounding success thus far in his tenure. Illinois basketball got theirs last year in John Groce, who has done more with the program in his 18 months on the job than anyone thought possible. Now, the Cubs hope they are getting their own great hire today in announcing that San Diego Padres bench coach Rick Renteria will be their new manager, replacing Dale Sveum. Although the hire goes against what most thought the Cubs were looking for in terms of major league managerial experience, the hire could turn out to be just as important and valuable as those listed above.

Return of Rose has Bulls on the Rise

550 days. That's how long we've waited for this moment, the moment where Derrick Rose returns to play in a game that counts. All of the drama, hearsay, and sports media buffoonery can now, finally, be put to rest. Sure, there will be the questions about how his knee is holding up, and whether missing a game here and there is really that important (or for the PTI talking head morons of the world - "what does this mean big picture-wise?"). But for the most part, he's back. We have the pleasure of getting to watch Derrick Rose play basketball for OUR team again, and as this preseason has attested, just how amazing he is at that particular thing. Because when you think about it, his supposed lack of public relations skills, his overreliance on his family for their bad advice, and his to-a-default humility don't matter at all. He's a basketball player, and one of the best in the world at it.

Cutler and Briggs Done for the Season. Are the Bears?

Henry Melton, Nate Collins, D.J. Williams, and Kelvin Hayden, lost for the year. Charles Tillman, Stephen Paea, Martellus Bennett, and Alshon Jeffery battling nagging injuries nearly all season long. And now, in a bad loss to a bad Redskins team yesterday, the Bears lose Jay Cutler for a minimum of four weeks and Lance Briggs for at least six. The bye week couldn't come at a more perfect time for this Bears team, not merely to rest the players they actually do have still in uniform but to desperately try to figure out to patch up the holes in the sinking ship that is the Bears defense. At this point, though, it is hard to see which direction the Bears go to fix the plaguing issues on that side of the ball, and might have to resign themselves to the fact that the Bears defense as we know it is done.

Bears' Offense Now the Strength of the Team

What a strange year for football 2013 is turning out to be. The Giants are a woeful shell of their two-time Super Bowl winning selves. The Falcons, considered a favorite in the NFC this year, are terrible and lost to the Jets (yes, the Jets) at home last week. The Steelers, a team that contends nearly every year, are in last place in a division that the Browns call home. The Chiefs, with the first pick in the 2013 NFL Draft, are tied with the Broncos for first in the AFC West and remain undefeated. The Texans are a blazing dumpster fire, with Philadelphia-esque cheers for Matt Schaub's injury resonating throughout Reliant Stadium in the shellacking they took from St. Louis yesterday. But in our local, micro-sports world, perhaps the most alarming surprise has been with the Chicago Bears defense.